position:spiritual leader

  • What happens to the bodies of those who die in the Mediterranean?

    Researchers, police, coroners and an imam in Sicily work hard to identify dead refugees and give them a proper burial.

    On All Soul’s Day, around three kilometres from the port in the Sicilian city of Catania, the pauper’s grave at the Monumental Cemetery is unusually well-tended, with fresh flowers and beads wrapped around cross-shaped headstones.

    Many belong to refugees and migrants who died at sea while trying to reach Europe. Sicilian cemeteries currently host the remains of more than 2,000 of them.

    The Mediterranean route is fraught with danger. So far this year, more than 2,000 people have died while crossing the sea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

    Local authorities here recover on average only one in 10 bodies, which usually remains unidentified.

    “An overall indifference has led to a higher non-identification rate of most bodies,” says Giorgia Mirto, a Sicilian anthropologist and founder of Mediterranean Missing, a database project collecting names of the identified dead refugees and migrants. “They just become statistics instead of humans.”

    After spending her time in cemeteries across the island, Mirto has identified a trend.

    “Here, migrants become part of the community. I noticed average citizens bringing flowers and praying over their graves,” she says. “’[It is] part of a Catholic mindset that instils the idea of taking care of the dead, in place of those who can’t afford or aren’t able to pay a visit.”

    In August, local policeman Angelo Milazzo accompanied a Jamal Mekdad, a Syrian man and his two children who had travelled from Denmark, to the cemetery of Melilli, a port village in Syracuse, eastern Sicily.

    They were visiting the grave of their wife and mother, who died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean in 2014.

    “Remembering that day still brings me tears,” Milazzo says.

    He is part of a police unit trying to prevent undocumented migration and was present on the day the Syrian woman perished, that day he saw the bodies of 24 people.

    From that moment, his work went well beyond the duties of his job as he made it his mission to try and identify the dead - often outside his working hours - spending time in port towns, cemeteries and searching on Facebook.

    Most victims do not carry identification documents, such as passports, so the first step is collaborating with coroners who examine the bodies and provide forensic police with information about the refugees’ DNA, origin, height, weight and gender, as well as pictures of clothing and notes of distinctive features or objects they had.

    “These reports are sent to our police unit, as well as to migrant help centres hosting survivors of shipwrecks, who can help identifying some of the victims, as usually, they travel with family members,” Milazzo says.

    Some of the coroners in charge of examining bones and clothes were, like Milazzo, touched on a personal level by the tragedy.

    Antonella Argo, a coroner in Palermo, Sicily’s capital, examined the bodies of several drowned migrants.

    “The frustration in this job can be tough. I remember one time, during a major shipwreck in 2016, my team and I were in charge of helping provide information about 52 bodies. We only managed to identify 18,” Argo explains.

    “I think it’s a doctor’s duty, actually any human being’s duty, to give back dignity, importance and most of all an identity, to those who’ve represented something in someone else’s life. It’s called Mediterranean compassion, and we Sicilians know that well.”

    Milazzo, the policeman, began his work in identification in 2014, having received reports from Argo’s colleagues, by visiting several towns in the province.

    One of his first stops was La Zagara, a migrant centre in Melilli.

    With the help of an Arabic-speaking interpreter, he began talking to survivors, mostly Syrians, showing them pictures of clothing and giving them details.

    Many provided him with the information he was looking for, as they were also searching for the missing.

    A young Syrian woman, simply identified with the number 23, was on his list.

    At La Zagara, he showed a man who had lost his wife the woman’s pictures.

    “Angelo showed me a face close up from the autopsy. It was her, my Sireen,” says Jamal Mekdad, the Syrian refugee father, explaining he hadn’t recognised her at first.

    Now living and working as a photographer in Denmark with his two children, he says he’s grateful for those who helped identify his wife.

    “They do an important job of giving back dignity to the victims’ families, as well as the disappeared migrants themselves,” he said.

    It took Milazzo a year, two months and 10 days to file a complete report identifying all the victims from the 2014 shipwreck, allowing Italian authorities to issue official death certificates.

    He runs a Facebook page, posting details about the dead and exchanging messages with people searching for answers.

    “Facebook has been crucial in collecting information about the disappeared and to get in touch with relatives,” Milazzo says.

    “Death certificates are fundamental for the relatives to move on and think about the future, carry on their lives, be entitled to inheritance and get peace of mind.”
    ’They deserve to rest in peace’

    The 2014 case was, however, an exception.

    Most families remain in the dark about their relatives.

    But once an identity is settled, the search for a burial site begins.

    As most victims are Muslim, it falls on Abdelhafid Kheit, an imam in the community, to take care of the bodies.

    “When the refugee crisis began, I had the impulse to help, to do something not only as a spiritual leader but as a human being,” Kheit says, holding back tears.

    Overcrowding in cemeteries, however, is a challenge.

    “For years, I’ve asked Sicily’s president to buy a piece of land and open a cemetery of the sea deaths. So far, my request hasn’t been answered. But I don’t give up, and will continue my advocacy to reach this goal,” says Kheit.

    Mekdad remembers speaking on the phone in 2014 with Kheit, who he describes as a “gentle imam with a North African accent”.

    “I entrusted my wife’s soul to him for her funeral, as I wasn’t able to attend,” he says.

    Kheit supervises the various stages of burial: washing the deceased migrant’s body, wrapping it in a white shroud and leading the burial prayer.

    These experiences have been the most challenging of his career, he says.

    “On certain occasions, I was asked to do these rituals on bodies which were so decomposed that I almost refrained from doing my job,” he says, “but then I continued because they deserved to rest in peace.”


    https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/bodies-die-mediterranean-181125235524960.html
    #Catania #Sicile #Italie #mourir_en_mer #cadavres #enterrement #cimetière #corps #migrations #asile #réfugiés #Méditerranée

  • Dalai Lama says ‘Europe belongs to the Europeans’ and suggests refugees return to native countries | The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dalai-lama-europe-refugee-crisis-immigration-eu-racism-tibet-buddhist

    The Dalai Lama has sparked anger after declaring that “Europe belongs to the Europeans”.

    The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader also said that refugees should return to their native countries and assist with developing them.

    The 14th Dalai Lama was speaking at a conference in Malmo, Sweden which is home to a large immigrant population, according to the Business Times.

    “Receive them, help them, educate them ... but ultimately they should develop their own country,” the 83-year-old said, when speaking about refugees.

    “I think Europe belongs to the Europeans.”

    #migrants

  • Israeli Druze commander quits army over nation-state law in open letter to Netanyahu

    In a Facebook post, Capt. Amir Jmall calls on leaders of his community to work toward putting an end to the compulsory conscription of Israeli Druze

    Yaniv Kubovich
    Jul 30, 2018 5:36 PM

    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-druze-quits-idf-over-nation-state-law-in-letter-to-netanya

    In the letter, Jmall also called on leaders of his community to work toward putting an end to the compulsory conscription of Israel’s Druze. The Facebook post has since been removed.
    “This morning, when I woke up to drive to the [army] base, I asked myself, why? Why do I have to serve the State of Israel, a state that my two brothers, my father and I have served with dedication, a sense of mission and a love of the homeland, and, in the end, what do we get? To be second-class citizens,” Jmall wrote.
    >> ’When we’re in uniform they treat us well’: Israel’s Druze no longer feel like blood brothers
    Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter
    Email* Sign up

    "Continue serving the country? I do not want to continue and I am sure that hundreds more people will stop serving and will be discharged from the army following your decision, Netanyahu, that of you and your government,” he continued.
    "After many thoughts ran through my head, I decided to let go and to discontinue serving the country, a country that has a government that takes and does not give back.”
    In conclusion, Jmall wrote: “I ask everyone who is against the nation-state law to share and share my proposal to community leaders to stop the conscription law for members of the Druze community.”
    The Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, also known as the nation-state law, approved by the Knesset on July 19, affirmed that only Jews have the right to self-determination in Israel. It also downgraded Arabic to a language with “special status,” among several other controversial measures that affect the Israeli Druze.
    The nation-state law is designed to alter the application of the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty in court rulings, and permits judges to give priority to Israel’s Jewish character in their rulings.

    Last week, Druze lawmakers were the first to file a High Court of Justice petition against the legislation. A hundred Druze Israel Defense Forces reserve officers added their voices to that effort on Wednesday, prompting Education Minister Naftali Bennett to speak out in support of “our blood brothers” on Twitter.
    Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon echoed similar sentiments on Thursday, telling Israeli Army Radio, “The enactment of the nation-state law was done hastily,” and adding: “We were wrong and we need to fix it.”
    On Saturday, Israeli Arab lawmaker Zouheir Bahloul (Zionist Union) announced his intention to resign from the Knesset in protest of the law. "The law oppresses me and oppresses the population that sent me to the Knesset,’’ he said.

    • Haaretz, 1er août
      Nation-state Law Backlash: Druze Leaders Say Netanyahu’s Offer May Set ’Historical Precedent’

      https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-nation-state-law-backlash-netanyahu-offers-druze-new-legislation-1

      Representatives of the Druze community said Thursday night that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to pass a law to strengthen the status of the Druze and Circassian communities is “a window of opportunity to set a historical precedent for the advancement of the Druze community and its status in the State of Israel.”
      Representatives, headed by Sheikh Muwafak Tarif, will continue talks with Netanyahu’s team, which has been appointed to make an agreement on both sides.
      Netanyahu’s proposed law follows the protest sparked by the nation-state law. The plan outlines a Basic Law and a regular law that will recognize the contribution of minorities who defend the country by “enshrining eligibility for the benefits of minority members of all religions and communities who serve in the security forces, for the purpose of closing gaps and promoting social equality.”
      Benjamin Netanyahu and the Druze representatives, August 1, 2018.
      Benjamin Netanyahu and the Druze representatives, August 1, 2018.
      >> Israeli Druze in Golan welcome end of Syrian war but fear future in Jewish nation-state
      Another demonstration against the nation-state law is slated for Saturday evening in Tel Aviv.
      Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter
      Email* Sign up

      According to the plan submitted by the prime minister’s representatives, “the law will recognize the contribution of the Druze community to the security of the state, and will include support for community institutions (religion, education and culture), will strengthen Druze residential settlements, and establish new towns if needed. It will also preserve and cultivate Druze heritage.”
      Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) congratulated “the agreement we have reached with the Druze leadership. Recognizing the rights of those who serve in the security forces is an achievement.” Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) said in response: “The Prime Minister ranks Israel’s citizens, and he divides and rules the minorities from whom he has stolen equality in his Basic Law. He got scared after the fact. Netanyahu’s government has torn apart the Declaration of Independence and the values of equality on which the state was founded. Now they’re making laws in honor of the Druze community, as if equality is a prize and not a right that all of us have.”
      The proposal drew mixed reactions from the Druze community, MK Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beiteinu), one of the two Druze MKs who petitioned the Supreme Court against the nation-state law, congratulated the plan. MK Saleh Saad (Zionist Union) said he will continue with the petition and said: “I am sad that my friends have succumbed to pressures and withdrew from the petition.”
      The negotiating team of the Druze community, which includes their spiritual leader, Sheikh Muwafak Tarif, former security officials and civil servants, has had strong disagreements over the proposal. One of the team members told Haaretz that the representatives who have security backgrounds tend to accept the spirit of the plan, while others – including local council heads – oppose it.
      The source added that some of the representatives accused the prime minister of trying to implement a policy of “divide and conquer.” They said that they would settle only for annulling the nation-state law or adding to it the value of equality. The source added that the Prime Minister’s Office is concerned about the protest rally scheduled for Saturday night, and therefore is exerting heavy pressure on the representatives of the community to accept the plan and cancel the rally.

      >> ’When we’re in uniform they treat us well’: Israel’s Druze no longer feel like blood brothers
      The plan was drafted by a team formed by the prime minister on the issue of the Druze, headed by the acting Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Bureau, Yoav Horowitz, and including Sheikh Tarif, ministers Ayoub Kara and Yariv Levin, MK Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beiteinu), former MK Shakib Shenan, heads of the Druze local authorities and the forum of reservist senior officers.
      The prime minister’s office called the plan “historic” in a press release, saying it “represents a revolution in the legal status of minority group members who serve in the security forces, and members of the Druze community in particular.” Sheikh Tarif welcomed the work of the team and thanked the prime minister for his quick and serious activity. The plan will be presented to the Druze community’s dignitaries.
      The plan offers to enshrine a Basic Law - Israeli constitutional equivalent - for the status of the Druze and Circassian communities, “paying respect to the contribution of the Druze community to the State of Israel in building the land, strengthening security and shaping the face of Israeli society as an egalitarian and diverse society.”
      The plan also suggests enshrining in law that members of minority groups, from all religions and ethnic groups will be eligible for benefits if they serve in the security forces. The law will also recognize their contribution if they serve.
      >> Analysis: Druze nation-state crisis: Israeli army chief forced to put out fire Netanyahu started
      Several Druze officers have left the Israeli military in recent days over the nation-state law.
      The Basic Law on Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, also known as the nation-state law, approved by the Knesset on July 19, affirmed that only Jews have the right to self-determination in Israel. It also downgraded Arabic to a language with “special status,” among several other controversial measures that affect the Israeli Druze.
      The nation-state law is designed to alter the application of the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty in court rulings, and permits judges to give priority to Israel’s Jewish character in their rulings.
      Earlier this month, Druze lawmakers were the first to file a High Court of Justice petition against the legislation. A hundred Druze Israel Defense Forces reserve officers added their voices to that effort on Wednesday, prompting Education Minister Naftali Bennett to speak out in support of “our blood brothers” on Twitter.
      Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon echoed similar sentiments, telling Israeli Army Radio, “The enactment of the nation-state law was done hastily,” and adding: “We were wrong and we need to fix it.”
      The acting Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Bureau announced the formation of a ministerial committee to deal with the issue of the Druze community, to be headed by the prime minister, which will work to promote the plan and to supervise its implementation - among other things.
      Details of the plan will be formulated and worded within 45 days, in the context of a joint team of the cabinet and representatives of the community, all subject to the instructions of the law and the approval of the attorney general. Legislative activities will begin immediately with the convening of the coming winter session of the Knesset and will be concluded within 45 days from the start of the session.
      Jonathan Lis

    • Rare manifestation de la communauté druze contre une loi controversée définissant Israël
      https://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2018/08/05/rare-manifestation-de-la-communaute-druze-contre-une-loi-controversee-defini

      Une foule immense de Druzes israéliens et leurs sympathisants a manifesté samedi à Tel-Aviv contre une nouvelle loi controversée qui, disent-ils, fait d’eux des citoyens de seconde classe. Selon les médias israéliens, quelque 50 000 personnes ont pris part à la manifestation.
      […]
      Arborant des drapeaux druzes et israéliens, les protestataires ont défilé dans le centre de Tel-Aviv an scandant « égalité ». « Malgré notre loyauté illimitée à l’Etat, celui-ci ne nous considère pas comme des citoyens égaux », a affirmé le chef spirituel de la communauté druze, cheikh Mouafak Tarif dans un discours.

  • Israel adopts abandoned Saudi sectarian logic - Modern Diplomacy

    https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2018/06/16/israel-adopts-abandoned-saudi-sectarian-logic

    Amid ever closer cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Israel’s military appears to be adopting the kind of sectarian anti-Shiite rhetoric that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is abandoning as part of a bid to develop a national rather than a religious ethos and promote his yet to be defined form of moderate Islam.

    The Israeli rhetoric in Arabic-language video clips that target a broad audience across the Middle East and North Africa emerged against the backdrop of a growing influence of conservative religious conscripts and officers in all branches of the Israeli armed forces.

    The clips featuring army spokesman Major Avichay Adraee were also designed to undermine support for Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip and backed recent mass anti-Israeli protests along the border with Israel, in advance of a visit to the Middle East by US peace negotiators Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt.

    The visit could determine when US President Donald J. Trump publishes his long-awaited ‘art of the deal’ proposal for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that despite Israeli and tacit Saudi and United Arab Emirates backing is likely to be rejected by the Palestinians as well as those Arab states that have so far refused to tow the Saudi line.

    Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in tacit cooperation with the Palestine Authority on the West Bank, have adopted a carrot-and-stick approach in an as yet failed bid to weaken Hamas’ control of Gaza in advance of the announcement of Mr. Trump’s plan.

    Citing a saying of the Prophet Mohammed, Major Adraee, painting Hamas as an Iranian stooge, asserted that “whoever acts like a people is one of them… You (Hamas) have officially become Shiites in line with the Prophet’s saying… Have you not read the works of the classical jurists, scholars…who have clearly warned you about the threat Iranian Shiism poses to you and your peoples?”

    In a twist of irony, Major Adraee quoted the very scholars Prince Mohammed appears to be downplaying. They include 18th century preacher Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab, whose ultra-conservative anti-Shiite interpretation of Islam shaped Saudi Arabia for much of its history; Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, a 14th century theologist and jurist, whose worldview, like that of Wahhabism, inspires militant Islam; and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born, Qatar-based scholar, who was designated a terrorist by Saudi Arabia and the UAE because he is believed to be the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

  • Torture, imprisonment and killing – so what would it take for Bahrain to be criticised by Philip Hammond?
    Once considered one of the more liberal Arab monarchies, Bahrain is turning into a police state as vicious and arbitrary as Egypt

    Patrick Cockburn @indyworld Friday 8 July 2016 The Independent
    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/bahrain-torture-imprisonment-killing-philip-hammond-human-rights-a712

    Bahrainis are calling their government’s intensified repression of all opposition “the Egyptian strategy”, believing that it is modelled on the ruthless campaign by the Egyptian security forces to crush even the smallest signs of dissent.

    In recent weeks leading advocates of human rights in Bahrain have been jailed in conditions directed at breaking them physically and mentally, while others, already in prison, have been given longer sentences. The Bahraini citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qasim, the spiritual leader of the Shia majority in Bahrain, was revoked and the headquarters of the main opposition party, al-Wifaq, closed and its activities suspended.

    Bahrain, once considered one of the more liberal Arab monarchies, is turning into a police state as vicious and arbitrary as anywhere else in the region. Mass protests demanding an end to the Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty’s monopoly of power during the Arab Spring period in 2011 were violently suppressed with Saudi military and financial help. The authorities agreed to an international investigation into what had happened that revealed widespread use of torture, unjust imprisonment and killings of protesters. Repression continued over the following five years but failed to eliminate entirely the protest movement, despite imprisoning at least 3,500 Bahrainis.

  • Nigerian Shiites say soldiers have killed hundreds
    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Dec-14/327306-nigerian-shiites-say-soldiers-have-killed-hundreds.ashx

    Nigeria’s Muslim Shiite movement says Nigerian troops have killed hundreds of its members in a northern town, but other reports put the number of dead at about 20.

    The killings happened this weekend in Zaria, a town in which, according to the military, the Muslim group tried to kill Nigeria’s army chief by stoning his convoy.

    The dead from the military raids included the wife and two sons of the Shia Islamic Movement leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky.

    Witness Ojo Momodu said the Shiites barricaded a main road with burning tires as Gen. Tukur Buratai approached Saturday and then pelted his convoy with stones.

    Army spokesman Col. Sani Usman called it “a deliberate attempt to assassinate” the general.

    The movement’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said the military retaliated with “indiscriminate killing.”

    • Nigerian Army Kills 300 Minority Shia
      http://www.mintpressnews.com/nigerian-army-kills-300-shias/212079

      The annual religious procession of Nigeria’s Shi’ite minority seems to get attacked by the Nigerian military every year. Last year, the attack during the procession killed 30 demonstrators, including three children of the group’s spiritual leader.

      This year, Shi’ite protesters held an advanced demonstration before the religious process, slamming military attacks against them and throwing rocks at the convoy of a general involved in last year’s crackdown, a move which the Nigerian military labeled an “assassination attempt.” They claimed the Shi’ites were armed with “swords and daggers.”

      So once again, the military moved against the Shi’ites in force this weekend, killing around 300 according to the Shi’ite movement. The exact toll could not be determined, however, as the Nigerian military took all the bodies with them when they left.

  • Saudi Cables Reveal How Saudi Arabia Saw Bahrain’s February 14 Uprising
    http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/06/21/saudi-cables-wikileaks-publishes-documents-on-bahrains-february-

    Another document that also shows Saudi Arabia’s role in fueling the sectarian divide focuses on Bahrain’s leading Shia cleric Isa Qassim, also the spiritual leader of the Alwefaq National Islamic Society, the largest political bloc in Bahrain.

    #saudileaks

  • #Hamas to #Iran : #Palestine brings us together
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hamas-iran-palestine-brings-us-together

    Hamas Prime Minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya (C) waves to the audience during a public rally marking 10 years since an Israeli air strike killed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on March 23, 2014 in Gaza City. (Photo-AFP Said Khatib) Hamas Prime Minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya (C) waves to the audience during a public rally marking 10 years since an Israeli air strike killed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on March 23, 2014 in Gaza City. (Photo-AFP Said Khatib)

    Palestinian group Hamas is flirting with the notion of restoring its ties with #syria. Though the reconciliation process will take some time, Hamas seems determined to reenter the Iranian camp which would pave the way for (...)

    #Abu_al-Walid #Articles #Bashar_al-Assad #Damascus #Ezzeddin_al-Qassam_Brigades #Hassan_Nasrallah #Hezbollah #Islamic_Jihad #Ismael_Haniyeh #Khaled_Meshaal #Lebanon #Ramadan_Abdullah_Shalah #Tehran

  • Targeting Hezbollah: Who is Behind the Dahiyeh Bombing?
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/targeting-hezbollah-who-behind-dahiyeh-bombing

    The Dahiyeh incident recalls a similar bombing that targeted the party’s spiritual leader, Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, on 8 March 1985. Fadlallah survived the attack, but 90 residents of the area lost their lives.

    It was later discovered that the operation was carried out by local CIA operatives and financed by Saudi Arabia by way of the kingdom’s ambassador in Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who now heads the country’s intelligence services. The information was confirmed in Bob Woodward’s book, Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, by then-CIA director, William Casey.

    Tuesday’s attack occurred no more than a few dozen meters from the deadly bombing 28 years ago.

  • C’est sûr, on peut trouver une meilleure source pour ce genre d’info, mais je la poste quand même.

    Iranians urged to join Shiite fighters in Syria - Israel News, Ynetnews
    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4377963,00.html

    A website affiliated with the supporters of Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, posted a call to arms, inviting Iranians to volunteer and join the fighting currently underway in Syria.
     
    In another article published by the same website, names and telephone numbers for those interested in volunteering were made available, allowing them to text or call for further information.
     

    Attached to the article was Hezbollah’s logo and written underneath it was the name of one of the most famous of Shiite battalions currently fighting in Syria – Abu Fadl Al-Abbas.

  • Dalai Lama Decries Buddhist Attacks On Muslims In Myanmar
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/dalai-lama-decries-buddhist-attacks-on-muslims-in-myanmar_n_3231140.

    Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday decried Buddhist monks’ attacks on Muslims in Myanmar, saying killing in the name of religion was “unthinkable.”

    The Dalai Lama, a foremost Buddhist leader, told an audience at the University of Maryland at the start of a U.S. tour that the root of seemingly sectarian conflict was political, not spiritual.

    “Really, killing people in the name of religion is unthinkable, very sad. Nowadays even Buddhists are involved in Burma,” another name for Myanmar, with monks attacking Muslim mosques, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said after delivering the Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace at the university.

    “I think it is very sad,” he said, adding, “I pray for them (the monks) to think of the face of Buddha,” who had been a protector of Muslims.

    A wave of sectarian violence erupted in March in the central Myanmar town of Meikhtila, causing 44 deaths and displacing an estimated 13,000 people, mostly Muslims.

    A Reuters investigation found that radical Buddhist monks had been actively involved in the violence and in spreading anti-Muslim material around the country.

  • MISSOURI: “Ex-Gay” Leader Of Christian Group Suspected In Murder Of Wife

    Tyler Deaton, the leader of a Kansas City youth prayer group whose members say has “overcome” his “struggle with being gay,” is suspected of ordering the murder of his wife, whose death was allegedly made to look like a suicide.

    Three days later, investigators say, 23-year-old Micah Moore would go to police and uncork the terrible secrets that allegedly occurred over several months at a Grandview home where Deaton and other members of his religious group lived. Witnesses told of a clan of young adults making sex part of their religious experience, of men in the group sexually assaulting Bethany over months, and of Deaton’s role as their “spiritual leader.” But Moore’s darkest admission, according to court records, was that Deaton feared Bethany was about to reveal the group’s secrets. Moore confessed that he had murdered Bethany and tried to make it look like suicide, and, according to court documents, he said Deaton told him to do it. Moore alone has been charged, with first-degree murder. Deaton and others in the group are under investigation, prosecutors said.

    Deaton’s group is part of the International House of Prayer “charismatic movement” headed by the virulently anti-gay Pastor Lou Engle, whose bizarre pronouncements have been covered here on JMG many times. According to members of the group, Deaton was having frequent sex with some of its male members.

    Bethany was sexually assaulted over a period of months while drugged with someone else’s prescription anti-psychotic, witnesses in the house told authorities. This was happening, the witnesses alleged, in a period of time that male members in the house were involved in sexual relationships with Deaton, one saying it was part of a “religious experience.” The statements unfolded with Moore allegedly saying that people in the group feared Bethany was about to tell her therapist about the assaults, and that he killed her with the plastic bag over her head at Longview Lake. He did it, his statement to detectives said, because Deaton told him he knew Moore “had it in him to do it."

    It’s really quite the bizarre story and I encourage you to the read the full report from the Kansas City Star. (Via Christian Nightmares)

  • The true spiritual leader of #Iran is Rumi | Melody Moezzi | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jun/10/rumi-spiritual-guide-iran

    Iran’s officially recognised “spiritual leader” today may be Ayatollah Khamenei, but for hundreds of years before the current establishment of mullahs and ayatollahs, Iranians of all creeds have looked to another spiritual leader: Jalal ad-Din Rumi. While this 13th-century Persian Sufi poet is known in much of the west as “Rumi”, he is referred to more affectionately in Iran as “Mowlaana,” or the Master.

    #poésie